1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a facsimile machine and particularly to a compact facsimile machine such as the desk-top type.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Due to recent developments in communication technology, facsimile machines are getting more and more important and more and more used in offices and factories. A facsimile machine is provided with various components many of which have been made smaller in size individually mainly by the application of IC chips. Be that as it may, prior art facsimile machines have been relatively large in size partly due to the arrangement of components required for operation. Examples of the internal structure of prior art facsimile machine are shown in FIGS. 1a through 1c. As shown, a facsimile machine generally comprises a roll 1 of recording paper, which is rotatably supported, a thermal print head 2 for printing information on the recording paper unrolled from the roll 1, a platen roller 3 for keeping the unrolled recording paper in pressure contact with the thermal print head 2, a paper cutter 4 for cutting the recording paper to a desired size, an original document 5 to be scanned, a document feed roller 6 for feeding the original document 5, a scanning region 7 where the original document 5 is scanned and the information read, an image sensor 8 such as a CCD and an optical path 9 along which various optical components such as lenses and mirrors are disposed.
As exemplified by these illustrated structures, the prior art facsimile machines necessarily tend to be bulky and occupy relatively large installation space. In addition, the interior of a facsimile machine is generally divided into three sections: reading section for reading an original document including such elements as an original document feeding mechanism, an optical path and an image sensor, a recording section for recording received facsimile information including such elements as a roll of recording paper, a thermal print head and a paper cutter, and a voltage supply section. The prior art main approach of arranging components in a facsimile machine has been to divide the interior space into these three separate sections and to locate components in the separate sections appropriately. For example, in the structure of FIG. 1a, the reading section including such elements as 5-9 is defined generally at the bottom of the right half and the recording section including such elements as 1-4 is defined generally in the left half. On the other hand, in FIG. 1b, the reading section is defined in the bottom half and the recording section is defined in the top half; whereas, the reversed structure is shown in FIG. 1c.